Hope
by ItsMyImagination
Summary: "I love you Shikamaru." I whisper to the win and hope it carries it to him. Hope with all my heart that it isn't too late after all.
1. Chapter 1

He was always there for me. Never once did he turn his back on me. Even though he would always proclaim to the world that I was too troublesome he would still listen to my idiotic rants. I should have known though, that it wouldn't always be this way.

That one day he would find someone that would listen back. Someone that would make time for him in their life. That would understand just how amazing he is.

I wish I would have had paid more attention to him. I wish I wouldn't have been so stupid in pursuing man, boys, that couldn't even hold a candle to what I now realize I had with him, but no longer do.

He was patient, God he _is_ the most patient man I know, but I should have realized that even he had his limits. That even he wouldn't sit around all his life waiting for me to turn my eyes on him and stop following around childish fantasies.

I look at myself now in the mirror and I feel so lost. He has been gone for almost three months. Three long agonizing months that were made even more unbearable as the rumors began to spread. Rumors that were soon going to become a reality. It is said that he will be returning in a matter of days but he isn't traveling alone.

"I love you Shikamaru." I whisper to the win and hope it carries it to him. Hope with all my heart that it isn't too late after all. That he hasn't fallen for a certain, blonde hair, sand kunoichi.


	2. 2

It was mid morning, the sky was clear blue without a cloud in sight. I had just finished arranging a bouquet of roses on Asuma's grave when I felt Chōji's chakra ever so slightly reach out to mine. I knew why he was here. I knew he would show up sooner or later. I had missed our meeting arrangement this morning. We had agreed the night before that we would wait at the entrance gates to the village for Shikamaru's arrival.

I'll admit, I got up extra early to get ready, to fix my hair and make sure my outfit was just right. I had just finished explaining to Yukari the delivery orders we had for today and was out the front door of the shop when I heard it. A group of girls were a little ways ahead gossiping. I heard them say Shikamaru's name and immediately veered into the nearest ally. I don't know why I did it, I guess it was out of habit. I had been doing that a lot lately. Sneaking around, trying to get as much information about Shikamaru's life without actually having to ask anyone myself.

"Did you hear Shikamaru-Kun will be back home today!" A pretty brunette was telling her friends.

"Of course, Who hasn't." One of her friends replied.

"Well, did you know that he isn't coming back home alone. That he is brings that Tamari girl from sand with him. Rumor has it that they have been extra "friendly" for a while now." The brunette's words practically leaked with innuendo.

I felt my heart constrict and I began to doubt myself. Why on earth would Shikamaru care if I came to meet him at the gates any ways. He doesn't love me. He didn't even care enough to send me a note, to let me know he was ok, since he's been gone. I know he wrote to Chōji. He told me himself one afternoon after training. He asked me if Shikamaru had been writing to me as well and if it seemed that the time between massages was getting longer.

I lied and told him that I had been getting massages from our teammate and that yes the massages were getting shorter and further apart.

So after leaving behind a group of gossiping friends and making a quick stop at the shop for a few roses. I decide that a visit to Asuma's grave was a better decision to make.

"Ino" Chōji's voice sounded concerned. "Are you ok?"

Oh Chōji if only things were only so simple. If things were only so black and white. But I don't really know if I'm ok or not. But I won't worry you or drag you down with me so all I say is "Yes Chōji, I am fine." With a smile as I turn to face him. "Why you ask?"

"It's just that I thought we were going to meet Shikamaru together today." He sounded a bit confused and his big brown eyes were full of concern.

"Sorry Chōji, it's just that I woke up today and wanted to come visit Sensei. And I completely forgot about meeting up." I tried to make my voice sound as sincere as possible in order to reflect a happy go lucky exterior so he wouldn't be able to see how in reality I had a storm brewing up inside.

"It's ok Ino don't worry about it." Chōji smiled. "I told Shikamaru we would meet him for dinner later on. It will just be the three of us thought. Tamari wasn't feeling too well, so she decided to stay in for the night and take a rain check." His words were meant to reassure but they only served to confirm the rumors.

"That's great Chōji! I'll be there." I wasn't sure if I was up to it or not yet. But I had let Chōji down once all ready so I wasn't about to do it again. I just hope that I had the courage to come face to face with Shikamaru and finally see for myself if he had really moved on with his life.

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Well I hope you guys like it. Please let me know what you guys think. Whether it is good or bad it does not matter. It will help me understand what I am doing right and where I need improvement. Thank you for reading.

Xoxo

Luna


	3. 3

Do not panic, you can do this, just breath.

Do not panic.

You can do this.

Just

Breath.

That seemed to be my mantra all afternoon. I had closed the shop a bit early due to the fact that I wasn't able to concentrate and I kept messing up every order that came in. All I could do was think about my upcoming dinner arrangement. What would Shikamaru look like? What would he say? What would he think about me? Question after question just kept plaguing my mind.

The thought of just not going had crossed my mind severe times but Chōji had made me promise that I was going to show up. I couldn't let him down twice in one day. And any ways it was bound that I was going to see Shika sooner or later and I rather do it on my terms then out of the blue.

So without putting it off any longer I grabbed my coat, ran down the stairs, locked up the flower shop, and began making my way to Chōji's favorite bar-b-q spot. All the while repeating my mantra over and over again. Maybe if I said it enough times I might begin to believe it.

I hadn't really been paying attention to where I was going so when I found myself right across the street of Yukata Bar-B-Q it was a big surprise. Not to mention that as soon as I looked up I saw his smile.

They were both sitting at a corner booth. Chōji was seated with his back to the window on one side of the booth. I could see his shoulders shaking with laughter and I could practically hear the boisterous sound of his laugh. Shikamaru on the other hand was seated opposite Chōji and he was at a perfected viewpoint where I could observe him without him noticing me.

I let my eyes rest on his smile for a bit. It was just such a rare sight. He hardly ever smiles, he is more of the smirking type, but when he does smile it is a sight to behold. I love the way his smile lights up his whole persona. He just seems so at ease that I find myself wanting to be sitting next to him. I wanted to see his eyes looking at me. Looking at me like he was right now. I just wanted...

Wait what?

His eyes. He was looking right at me and I couldn't move. His smile vanished instantly and he tilted his head curiously at me. He seems to be trying to figure out what I was doing outside and why I wasn't making my way inside to join them. Well good luck trying to figure that one out because I myself don't know what I'm doing. I just seem to be rooted to the spot. I can't seem to make my legs work. I just need to go home.

That's it.

I need to go home and get my head straight. But then one side of his mouth tilts up and he smirks right at me like if he knows something about me that I don't. And that's one of the things I hated about Shikamaru. That he always seems to think he knows more about me than I do myself. So walk forward, opened the door to Yukata's and go right up to them.

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A/N: Hi guys, thank you so much for those that reviewed. It really means a lot that you guys like it.

Thank you,

ShikaIno1 :) ShikaxIno forever!

Anniiee and yes it will be a ShikaIno

Reikasa sorry if the chapters are short I'll try to work on making them longer.

NaruSaku143 lol yeah I don't know why I keep writing Tamari instead of Temari

Again thank you to all those that have read my story. Sorry if my chapters are on the short side. It's just that I don't write ahead I tended to write whatever scene pops into my head at the time. Also I have school in the mornings, work in the afternoon, and then I try to spend as much time with my baby girl before she goes to bed. So that only leaves me about 30mins to 1hr for myself and writing before I go to bed. I will try to write longer chapter :) promise. I will also try to update every other day.

I hope you guys like it. Let me know how I'm doing. Good or bad I'm all ears.

Xoxo

Luna


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey Ino you finally made it." Chōji exclaim. He was a tiny bit out of breath but he smiled warmly up at me and I couldn't help but smile back. I looked over at Shikamaru and my heart stopped for a second. He still had that all knowing smirk and he held my gaze for just a tad too long before he finally stood up and let me slide in beside him.

"Hi Shika. Hey Chōji, What were you two laughing about just know?" I asked.

"Oh nothing much, just Shikamaru was telling me about some ridiculous idea Kankuro had about trying to find a way to sneak up on Gaara." Chōji chuckled a bit more.

He continued talking but I couldn't really concentrated. I could still feel Shikamaru's gaze on me, and I was too chicken to return it, but trying to ignore it was proving to be a bit too difficult. So I took my chance and looked over and sure enough I found his gaze set on me. I smiled tentatively but I knew I wasn't fooling him, he could tell I was hiding something.

"What's going on Ino?" His voice was deep and raspy and it send shiver down my spin. Had he always sounded this sexy?

"Nothing really, I'm fine." My voice sounded a little breathless so I turned my attention back to Chōji hoping that Shikanaru would do the same. From the corner of my eye I saw him look at me a little longer before facing Chōji once more.

"So, Shikamaru, what is this I hear that you and Temari are an item?" Chōji asked with a teasing smile. "Or are you still refusing to comment on it?"

I couldn't believe I was about to find out if every rumor I had heard about in the past few months were true. My hands began to sweat a little and my heart began to beat faster. I look over to Shikamaru.

He had settled himself back with is hands behind his head. He looks out the window for a bit before he simply replied "hn, it's no ones business." Sending his chubby friend a look that said drop it.

"How's Kauri by the way." I can't believe he was switching the subject. How was I ever going to find out what was going on if he refused to talk about it. He was so stubborn sometimes that it was just infuriating. Why couldn't he just say a simple yes or no to the question and finally give peace to her mind. But of course he was Shikamaru and nothing ever was simple when it came to him.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't realized that Chōji had stood up until he called my name out. "See you tomorrow Ino." And he was out the door before I could even say goodbye.

I was now trapped between a wall and Shikamaru and he was looking down at me with determination in his eyes. "So are you going to tell me what's going on now? Why were you standing outside just watching us? Why were you avoiding me this morning? I know something's up Ino and we are not leaving till you tell me what's wrong."

I wasn't sure what to say or how to even begin to put into words what I was thinking. I need some time before I got into this conversation with Shikamaru. "Could you walk with me then." My voice came out to soft I almost thought he didn't hear me. But at last he stood up and we made our way outside.

The night was beautiful. You could feel the weather changing in the air, summer giving away to fall. We walked in a comfortable silence for a while. I wished would have lasted longer but it seemed that Shikamaru had another idea in mind.

"So are you going to finally tell me what's got your head all messed up?"

His words made me realize that everything was about to change. I knew that there was no going back now. I knew that after the first word left my mouth that we were either going to grow closer or drift apart. And as I looked into Shikamaru's intelligent, deep brown eyes I hoped it was the former.

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AN: I promised I would try to update every other day so here it is I hope you guys like it. I tried to make it longer and I really wanted to keep going but it is 4:02am where I am at and I have class at 9am so I am off to bed.

Once more thank you to everyone for reading and for the reviews and as always any and all feedback is encouraged.

Xoxo

Luna


	5. Chapter 5

I wasn't ready to talk to him about this, but I was ready for the truth. I need to get this over with. So with my fingers crossed behind my back I looked up into Shikamaru's eyes an spilled my guts out.

"AreyouandTemarianiteambecauseIreallyIikeyouandIneedtoknow."

"What?" Shikamaru chuckled a little. "I honestly did not understand a word you just said Ino." He took a hold of my arm an squeezed lightly and reassuringly. "Just breath Ino. It can't be that bad." The smile he gave me made my heart do a little flip and jumbled up my thoughts. So I smiled back shyly and averted my eyes.

"Shika-Kun, you have been gone for a while now and during that time I really missed you. Well you see I was just wondering if you and Temari were together or not. Because if you aren't, then you think, maybe you and I could hang out for a bit?Just the two of us?" I looked up at him as I finished. Kami that had been harder than I thought.

I really wasn't sure what he was going to say. The silence stretched out and it seemed indefinite and I was begging to worry. What if he hadn't heard me? What if I had to repeat myself? That would just be horrible. My mind was going a hundred miles a minute and not knowing what was going on in his head was driving me insane.

His eyes went up to the sky and he took a deep breath before he looked at me once more. "Look Ino, Temari and I are not together per say, but we are talking." I felt like if someone had punched me in the stomach and I was left breathless. Surely I was mishearing what he was saying. But he kept going on.

"I mean she is a really cool kanuchi and she's smart. I really like her Ino. I'm sorry. It's just that I thought you were into Sai and you never once gave me the impression that you were into me."

"So you went and hook up with Temari!" I wasn't thinking straight. I swear I wasn't if not I would have never told him what I did. "Kami Shika I hate you. I never thought you of all people would hurt me this way. How could you do this to me?"

"What Ino! What did you want me to do? Wait for you all my life. You were the one that kept reminding me that I was never going to be good enough for you. And now that you hear that I might be moving on you decide that you want to be with me. Kami Ino, how selfish can you be?"

I know that every word he was saying was true but it still hurt to hear it. It still felt like someone had ripped my heart out. I couldn't do this any more, I need to get away from him before I did or said something I would regret later.

I looked at him one last time before I whispered, "What ever Shika.", and left.

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AN: Sorry this took so long but I just started a new job and my little girl wasn't really happy about it. So I decided that some extra time spent with my little princess was required. I hope you guys enjoy it :) as always any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

Xoxo

Luna


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